1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of information handling systems, and more particularly to a method and system for manufacture of information handling systems from an image cache of selected information handling system configurations.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
One way to manufacture information handling systems with a wide variety of component configurations is to build information handling systems as they are ordered by customers. In a build-to-order manufacturing system, a customer order is built to meet a configuration specified by the customer and, after the order is completed, the information handling system is delivered to the customer to fulfill the order. An advantage of the build-to-order manufacturing system is that a customer is able to order with a great deal of specificity the parts used to configure the customer's information handling system. However, the manufacture of a wide variety of configurations is complex and difficult to manage. For instance, information handling systems with different hardware components often use different software configurations to manage the hardware components. Further, customers may order a variety of different software applications to be loaded on information handling systems, such as different operating system, word processing, spreadsheet and other small business applications.
One difficulty with managing a build-to-order manufacturing process is that the time needed to copy, unzip and configure software applications can be extensive. As the applications load, information handling systems typically copy the configured software onto a storage device, such as a hard drive, so that the applications are ready to run when the information handling system is delivered to the customer. Often, the applications configure onto the hard drive with repeated booting of the information handling system as the applications load drivers and interfaces to operate with hardware components and other software loaded on the information handling system. The time required to configure software is reduced in some cases by bundling commonly-ordered software, such as operating systems and office applications, together into a consolidated single factory install package. However, these bundled images typically do not complete the software order and typically still require operation of the information handling system to complete configuration.